NEWS PUNCH –—-Mrs. Elizabeth Orefuwa, the 2017 Lagos State University Best Graduating Student has delivered a baby girl barely 24 hours after the award during the 21st convocation ceremony of the institution.

The news of Elizabeth who was already pregnant as she was awarded yesterday as the Best Graduating Student delivery of a baby girl broke today during the convocation of the of the Postgraduate Diploma, Masters and Doctorate degrees at the University,News Punch learned reliably.

Elizabeth, 29, graduated with a 4.74 cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) making her the best graduating student in Lagos State University, has revealed that it was no easy road for her. According to her, she wrote the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) 7 times before finally gaining admission into the tertiary institution.

The Accounting Education graduate made this revelation at the institution’s 21st convocation ceremony held on Wednesday. According to her, she had always wanted to be an accountant but when she could not gain admission into the university after years of trying, she started a professional career in accounting.

“The journey through the institution was not easy; it took me seven years of writing the UTME before I finally gained admission in 2012. I also applied for direct entry three times at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. During this period of waiting, I started professional career at the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (ICAN) in 2007 and became qualified as an Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) in 2010,’’ she said.

She explained that she did not relent in her effort to get a university education because she was determined and her father also motivated her to get a university education despite having a professional certificate in Accounting. She had wanted to study Accounting but ended up in Accounting education, however, she had no idea she would graduate with the best result overall in the school.

“My aim is to get my first degree certificate after several years of waiting and to satisfy my dad, who has been insisting on academic certificate before professional certificate. He would always say to me then that I have put the cart before the horse. However, what kept me going was self-belief, focus and determination bearing in mind that I am not competing with other but with my own capabilities.”

Orefuwa got married in her final year and is now pregnant. Surprisingly, her increased responsibilities as a wife did not affect her academic performance. If anything, it even made her better.

She said: “I had a CGPA of 4.72 before marriage and I graduated with 4.74 point. I got married during my final year in 2015 and my husband was very supportive throughout that period.’’

She intends to teach accounting and also practise accounting as a profession.